Val’s Toy Chest- POP Culture

Hey guys- there’s definitely been some notable releases over the past week. There’s new POPs, a couple of new NECA pieces as well as some higher-end figures on their way into the store.

Let’s start with Funko POP- the biggest of the new releases are the brand-new Power Rangers POPs based on the film releasing this March. Characters included in this series are the five original Rangers: Red, Blue, Pink, Black and Yellow. Each of the Rangers is based on their current movie look and is done in the usual cute POP style. Other POPs recently in include: Bill and Ted from Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure, Emma Frost from the X-Men(and part of Funko’s exclusive Specialty Series), El Kabong from Hanna Barbera’s Classic Quick Draw McGraw cartoon(also part of the Specialty Series), Wolverine in his Logan look, classic videogame character Q-Bert, and Big-E, Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods from the WWE.

NECA has a few new items in store as of this writing. First is the Predator 2 Ultimate City Hunter Action Figure. Featuring the Predator with brand new articulation, plenty of accessories and window-box packaging, this figure is definitely a worthy update. Fans of classic DC Comics will remember the super-sized Muhammad Ali vs Superman comic book from the 70s. NECA has now immortalized the nearly 40 year old story as an action figure 2-pack. The two pack features fully articulated Muhammad Ali and Superman figures with comic-style shading and coloring and is based on Neal Adams’ artwork.

I just received notice on new Mezco, Sideshow and Hot Toys figures scheduled to release within the next few weeks. Mezco’s 1:12 line of figures continues with the Emerald Archer and the Man Without Fear both on their way. Green Arrow and Daredevil will each feature a cloth outfit, character specific accessories, as well as several interchangeable parts and are based on their classic comic book looks. Sideshow has the Ghostest with the Mostest arriving with the 1:6 scale Beetlejuice action figure. Beetlejuice will feature cloth costuming, an articulated body and accessories. The latest Hot Toys to arrive will be Elizabeth Olsen’s Scarlet Witch as seen in last year’s blockbuster, Captain America: Civil War. Scarlet Witch features a base, magical effects, interchangeable hands and a mini Ant-Man figure.

He-Man and the Masters of the Universe fans can relive the comic strip from the 80s with Dark Horse’s release of their new compilation. The comic strip only ran in limited markets back in the day and several fans have never had access to it, until now. From what I’ve read about it, it should be a fun collection.

Some recent figure announcements:

Diamond Select will be tackling the forthcoming Spider-Man: Homecoming film with a brand-new action figure of Spider-Man as seen in the Tom Holland movie. No images of the figure have been released yet, but it should be a good one.

Mezco’s 1:12 will include Deathstroke and the Suicide Squad movie version of Harley Quinn in their upcoming figure line-up. Harley will feature multiple heads as well as movie-accurate accessories and cloth costuming. She also has the distinction of being the very first female 1:12 figure in the line.